The Architecture and Mosaics of the Basilica of Agias Trias in the

The Architecture and Mosaics of the Basilica of Agias Trias
in the Karpas Peninsula, Cyprus
Allan Langdale
University of California, Santa Cruz
Abstract
This article examines the architectural, decorative, and liturgical elements of
the ruined basilica of Agias Trias in the Karpas peninsula on Cyprus. These
elements include the essential architectural components of the complex, such
as the atrium, narthex, and the baptistery, as well as liturgical remains such as
the bema and solea. An account is given of the form and function of both the
baptistery structure and the baptismal font, with consideration of how their
forms reflect the rites and practice of baptism in the early Church. Attention
is also given to the form and iconography of the mosaic decoration, including
the two Greek inscriptions. The article concludes with thoughts on the future
conservation of the site.
Keywords: Cyprus, Karpas, Agias Trias, baptistery, baptismal font, mosaics,
early Byzantine, solea, ambo, bema, catechumena, basilica
Abstract
Bu makalede Kıbrıs Karpas bölgesinde bulunan Agias Trias Bazilikası
kalıntısının mimari, süsleme sanatları ve törensel eşyaları incelenmektedir.
Belirtilenlerin esaslı mimarı unsurların yanında atrium (orta avlu) dış dehliz
(narteks) ve vaftiz bölmesi de inceleme konusu yapılmış olup aynı zamanda
bema ve solea gibi törensel eşyalar da incelemeye dahil edilmiştir. Gerek
vaftiz bölmesinin yapısı, gerekse vaftiz sunağının fonksiyonu ve şekillerinin
erken kilise döneminde vaftiz töreninin ne şekilde yansıttığıyla ilgili
açıklama yapılmış, iki Yunan yazıtını da içerir şekilde şeklen ve ikonografik
olarak mozaik süslemelerine de dikkat çekilmiştir. Makale bu alanın
gelecekte nasıl korunması gerektiğine ilişkin düşüncelerle sona ermektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Kıbrısö Karpaz, Agias Trias, vaftishane, vaftiz havuzu,
mozaikler, erken Bizans, solea, vaaz kürsüsü, koro, katekümen, bazilika
About 5 kilometers northeast of the Karpasian town of Yeni
Erenköy/Yialousa, Cyprus, is a village called Sipahi/Agias Trias.1 At its
eastern edge, tucked away in a picturesque olive grove, are the ruins of an
early 5th-century basilica known as Agias Trias, or “Holy Trinity” (Figs.
Journal of Cyprus Studies 15 (2009)
© EMU 1303-2925
Allan Langdale
1-2). The remains of the three-aisled church reveal a plan about 23 m.
long and 15 m. wide, including its nave, side aisles, and narthex. An
atrium, measuring about 9 by 15 m., functioned as an open forecourt in
front of the west entrance to the church. Several ancillary structures
surround the basilica, the most interesting of which are a catechumena
attached to the southern flank of the church (also with a semi-circular
apse, creating a veritable second south side aisle)2 and the baptistery
complex to the east. Agias Trias is best known for its geometric floor
mosaics which date from the building’s early years if not its origin. These
at one time covered the entire floor surface of the basilica and a
substantial amount, about 70%, remains. The mosaics have been exposed
to the elements for centuries and with a surge in tourism in the region
increased foot traffic is also beginning to take its toll on these rare works
of art. Lack of proper maintenance has allowed plants to take root in
much of the site, thus damaging both architectural and mosaic elements.
This report gives a survey of the architecture of the church of Agias Trias,
its mosaics, its adjacent buildings, and evaluates the urgent need for
protection and conservation of the site. Proposals are made for future
conservation projects which will help preserve this significant monument
of the world’s cultural heritage.3
Image 1: The ruins of the basilica of Agias Trias, near Sipahi (Agias Trias),
in the Karpas peninsula, northern Cyprus (photograph by the author).
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Owing to its proximity to the Holy Land and its prosperity during the
late Roman and Early Byzantine period (and, indeed, through the Middle
Ages), Cyprus is particularly blessed with historical architecture.
Image 2: Plan of Agias Trias basilica and baptistery (lower right).
Several Christian basilicas can be found, mostly as part of the ruins of the
ancient Greco-Roman cities which flourished into the Christian era.
These include, for example, the basilicas at Kourion, Paphos, Soli, and
two at Salamis (later named Constantia): the basilicas of Campanopetra
and Epiphanios.4 These basilicas were mostly large scale metropolitan
edifices and some, as in the case of Soli, had substantial floor mosaics
which survive to this day. Unlike these urban basilicas Agias Trias was a
smaller rural church which may have served a small local community
and/or been a regional cult site. Its sumptuous mosaic decorations and
substantial associated buildings suggest generous patronage. Chroniclers
often make mention of the many small and remote churches scattered in
the Cypriot hinterlands and this church is one of the finest and earliest
examples. The Karpas peninsula, in particular, was dotted with small
timber-roofed basilicas in the 4th to 7th centuries such as Agias Trias and
those at Afendrika, Agios Philon, Sykha, and the Kanakaria church at
Lythrangomi (Boltaşli).5 Some of them fell into ruin during the 7th to 9th
centuries but their remains were incorporated into newer vaulted basilicas
some time in the 10th century.6 Agias Trias is somewhat unique, having
never been reconstructed or built over, and thus offers an exceptional
opportunity to study a reasonably well preserved exemplar of its
architectural type.
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Little of the church’s elevation survives though there is more than
enough to clearly determine the building’s plan. Some of the columns
which held up the timber framed roof were found during initial
excavations and these fragments were re-erected on their bases and today
give some sense of the building’s vertical organization. In the central apse
is a bema which is elevated about 40 cm above the floor level of the rest
of the church. At the bema’s center, facing the nave, are three steps,
possibly symbolic of the Trinity (Fig. 3). At one time a screen or templon
probably helped demarcate the bema from the body of the church.7 The
bema almost completely fills the apse of the church, but not quite. As in
other basilicas, such as the larger and more famous basilica of
Campanopetra in Salamis (Constantia), also on Cyprus, there is a narrow
corridor between the bema and the wall of the apse. At the basilica of
Campanopetra there is a synthronon in the apse, but no such remains were
found at Agias Trias. Yet the presence of a substantial baptistery on the
site suggests frequent visits by a local bishop and thus some arrangement
of a synthronon in the central apse (where the bishop was situated during
liturgies) is very likely. Perhaps it was a modest one such as the one at the
Asomatos church at nearby Afrendrika.
Image 3: The bema of Agias Trias (photograph by the author).
One of the most striking features of Agia Trias is the scant but significant
remains of its solea, which ran down the center of the nave from the bema
steps almost to the church entrance (Fig. 4). The solea consisted of a low
fence with stone posts which had grooves to support the openwork panels
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(Fig. 5). Only fragments of these posts and panels survive, but there is
enough to give an idea of the original configuration. One panel, the best
preserved, shows the bottom curve of a geometric circular motif with a
flower in the corner (Fig. 6).
Image. 4: The solea of Agias Trias running down the center of the nave
towards the bema (photograph by the author)
Image 5: Post with slots for the panels of the solea, Agias Trias (photograph
by the author).
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The solea was used by the officiating priests as a sacral space extending
into the body of the church such as a processional route during
ceremonies. At times, a solea was coupled with an ambo or pulpit and it
is possible that some kind of ambo, offering a slight elevation for the
priest, could have been located at the center of this solea. At least one
author claims that the remains of an ambo were found during
excavations.8 The solea’s construction closely resembles the stone
barriers put in many early Byzantine churches which divided the side
aisles from the nave.9 These barriers, too, like the solea, segregated
distinct spaces for clergy and laity.
Image 6: Remaining lower section of one of the solea panels, Agias Trias
(photograph by the author).
Although the solea more or less follows a path indicated by the mosaic
decorations along the spine of the nave, it seems likely that the solea was
added later as it is slightly offset from the lines indicated by the mosaic’s
composition. The nave mosaics are organized in three rectangular frames
around the solea, and include the mosaics of the solea itself, which run in
a consistent geometric design along its length (Fig. 4). Two mosaic
inscriptions can be found just beyond the solea’s ends: one running in a
strip along the front of the bema and another in a small rectangular panel
immediately inside the central entryway of the church. The first records
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the donation of Heraclius the deacon who paid for the decorations in that
part of the church (Fig. 7), while the second tells of the brothers Aetis,
Euthalis, and Eutychianos who made similar donations (Fig. 8).
Image 7: Portion of the Deacon Heraclius’s dedication inscription mosaic,
Agias Trias (photograph by the author).
Image: Dedication inscription at the entrance to the basilica of Agias Trias
(photograph by the author).
The side aisles, narthex and catechumena are also filled with geometric
mosaics, much in keeping with late antique and Early Christian designs.
Though more rustic, they are reminiscent of the decorative borders and
geometric floor mosaics found in Antioch, Syria, which is only 90 km
away across the water to the east.10 The designs of the flooring display a
splendid range of variations including wave patterns, chevrons, meanders,
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key designs, and myriad stellate, rectilinear, and curvilinear designs (Figs.
9-10). Their exuberance and vitality are among their most compelling
attributes. Although much faded by time, the tesserae were richly
coloured stones of black, white, red, light and dark greens, and turquoise.
Image 9: Geometric mosaics from Agias Trias (photograph by the author).
Image 10: Geometric mosaics from Agias Trias (photograph by the author).
In the floor of the north side aisle two exceptions to the nonrepresentational decorative paradigm can be found, with two pairs of
sandals and a depiction of pomegranates. One pair of sandals points
inwards to the interior of the church (Fig. 11) while the others point
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outwards. Perhaps they represented the sandals of pilgrims who visited
the site, suggestive that Agia Trias was the site of a regional cult, or
perhaps the simple footwear was meant to remind visitors of Christ’s
humility and poverty.11 The motif appeared most often in the pagan
Roman context at the thresholds of baths where they functioned as
reminders for people to take off their sandals. The sandals were often
accompanied by the inscription “Bene Lava” or “Have a Good Bath”.12
Image 11: Mosaic of sandals from the north side aisle of Agias Trias
(photograph by the author).
The narthex has a semicircular niche at its south end and was set apart
from the main body of the narthex by a pair of columns. This niche
probably held a font for ritual ablutions. Since this specialized part of the
narthex communicates only with the catechumena it is probable that it
functioned as a ritual component for the catechumens who were in the
process of preparing to enter the Christian faith. Such additional, apsed
corridors along the southern flanks of churches were common features in
Cypriot basilicas of the Early Christian period. They are found in the
Basilica of Campanopetra at Salamis, for example, and at the Karpasian
church of Agios Philon, which is very close to Agia Trias. In the atrium
of Agias Trias (Fig. 12) one can still find a small monolithic stone font of
a type fairly common in Cyprus: consisting of a flared and roughly fluted
columnar base supporting a broad, shallow bowl or phiale (Fig. 13).13
Scattered among the ruins are late Roman period mills for grinding wheat
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and deep bowls probably used for crushing grapes for wine or olives for
oil. Given the liturgical centrality of bread and wine for the liturgy, and
the sacral function of oil for anointing, these are eloquent signifiers of the
diurnal religious activities which took place here centuries ago when a
small religious community may have been supported by local
benefaction.
Image 12: The atrium of Agias Trias, taken from the southwest (photograph
by the author).
Image 13: Phiale in situ in the atrium of Agias Trias (photograph by the
author).
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Image 14: The baptistery of Agia Trias, taken from the west (photograph by
the author).
The existence of a substantial baptistery building and its processional
baptismal font at Agias Trias points to the significance of the church in
the region (Fig. 14). In most cases, construction of a baptistery of such
scale and elaboration would have indicated the presence of a bishop.
According to Tertullian (A. D. 140- c. 230) in his work “On Baptism”
there were instances when deacons or presbyters, if appointed to do so by
a bishop, could administer baptismal rites.14 There is a similar baptistery
at Agios Philon, not far from Agias Trias and also on the Karpas
peninsula, but the two baptisteries may not have functioned
contemporaneously. If the two baptisteries did function at the same time,
this may indicate either a relaxed policy on baptism on Cyprus in the 5th
to 6th centuries or, as was sometimes the case in North African early
Christian communities, that there were competing bishops or Christian
sects who both baptized with similar ceremonies.15
The baptistery at Agias Trias consists of an atrium with four
monolithic columns in the north where witnesses to the baptism would
observe the ceremony (see Fig. 2). Baptism in this period was a theatrical
event, with an audience for the rites. The audience would have included
the sponsors or guarantors of the initiate’s character and sincerity, as well
as those who had guided the candidate through their catechumenate and
vouchsafed for his/her readiness to enter the faith. At the baptistery at
Kourion, Cyprus, there is evidence of hook-like devices in front of the
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‘stage’ recess in which the baptism would take place, so that the drawing
back of curtains, revealing the sacred space, would have heightened both
the drama and the solemnity of the event.
Image 15: The cross-shaped processional baptismal font at Agias Trias
(photograph by the author).
Baptism during this era was most often by full immersion.16 The
baptismal pool itself was a cross-shaped processional type (Fig. 15),
whereby celebrants began the ceremony in a western room sometimes
called an apodyterion (changing room; the term is derived from Roman
bath houses) where they would undress and prepare for the rites by
renouncing the devil and evil. They would then enter the central room
with the baptismal font and descend, one by one, down the 3 steps into
the pool. They would then be fully immersed by the priest 3 times (the
number of steps and immersions both symbolic of the Trinity), and
ascend the opposite steps and emerge into the eastern room, towards the
rising sun. In this room, called the chrismarion, they would be given
white vestments and be anointed with chrism (sanctified oil) and perhaps
receive the laying on of hands, which would complete the rituals of the
entry into the Christian religion.17 This eastern room has an apse: this
may be where the bishop stood for the anointing ceremony.
Other such cross-shaped processional baptismal pools can be found
elsewhere on Cyprus, including the aforementioned basilica of Agios
Philon and the basilica of Epiphanios at Salamis (Constantia). In some,
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such as those at Kourion and St. Epiphanios at Salamis, the baptismal
water was heated by a furnace to make the celebrants and the presiding
bishop more comfortable. At both Kourion and Agios Philon there is
evidence of later alterations of the cruciform font whereby arms of the
cross were blocked off in order to facilitate infant baptism, which became
increasingly the norm in later centuries.18
The cross-shape of these baptismal fonts was highly symbolic. The
four arms, filled with water, paralleled the promise of salvation in the
Four Rivers of Paradise. In some North African cruciform fonts mosaic
decorations of flowing streams, fish, plants, and birds make the
paradisiacal symbolism even more explicit. They alluded directly to the
Garden of Paradise which the baptized could hope to attain upon
becoming Christian.19 At times, pipes and continuous drains allowed for
water to literally flow through the font, creating an impression of a
natural stream or river and a “living” water paralleling the River Jordan in
which Christ was baptized by John. But the cruciform shape also alluded
to Christ’s death on the cross and, eventually, his resurrection. So the
descent into the font itself was also a descent into a watery tomb, and a
symbolic death (of the former, sinful self), and one’s re-emergence from
the font indicated the promise of resurrection and a new, eternal life free
of sin, which is also why the celebrants move from west to east, towards
the rising sun.20 The time or baptism was also significant. Although in
theory baptism could take place at any day of the year, there were favorite
times for the rites, such as Easter.
Each of the aforementioned elements at Agias Trias, either
architectural or decorative, are in a substantial degree of peril. While the
case of northern Cyprus is fairly well known, it bears reviewing how the
political and economic realities of the region impinge upon work in
architectural conservation. After the British gave up Cyprus in 1960 and
the independent Republic of Cyprus was born, the new country was
unable to control the forces of ethnic division and the meddling of foreign
powers. Inter-communal strife between the Greek Cypriot majority and
Turkish Cypriot minority on the island led ultimately to an intervention of
Turkish troops in 1974. This military action partitioned the island into a
Turkish sector in the north, comprised of about a third of the island’s total
area, while the Greek Cypriots were forced to the southern two-thirds of
the island. This southern half retained the political identity and diplomatic
legitimacy of the Republic of Cyprus while the attempted establishment
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of a Turkish national sector was never sanctioned by the international
community. Thus northern Cyprus has remained under international
embargo and has been culturally and socially isolated for the past 34
years.
This political dilemma has had a significant impact on the historical
architecture of the northern region of Cyprus. Firstly, the economic
embargo has meant that very few funds can be allocated to the sustaining
of the uncommonly rich historical heritage of the area. Secondly, the
embargo has kept professionals and scholars from returning, thus
increasing its cultural isolation. Agias Trias is just one of scores of
important historical buildings in northern Cyprus in jeopardy because of
lack of proper maintenance and exposure to environmental risks, erosion,
and threats of seismic damage, and vandalism.21 Agias Trias’s unique
status and the extremely fragile nature of its distinctive mosaic
decorations make it an exceptionally important structure to consolidate
and conserve.
Examples of appropriate intervention exist elsewhere on Cyprus. For
example, the basilica at Soli, also known for its extensive and unique
mosaic flooring, has been roofed over to protect it from rain and solar
damage. At Paphos in the Republic of Cyprus, the Roman mosaics have
been protected from tourist foot traffic by a well-thought out system of
elevated walkways which lead visitors throughout the site and offer
convenient platforms for viewing the works in situ. There, too, the most
important works have been roofed over. Such a combination of
prophylactic measures would help preserve Agias Trias and its mosaics
from further depredation. While the bucolic scene which currently
welcomes the visitor may be lost, attention to the aesthetics of design so
that the protective elements might fit less obtrusively into the immediate
environment, would avoid at least the worst case of Soli’s roofing which
is decidedly industrial in appearance. Since Agias Trias is a fairly small
site, two or three discrete, low, wooden viewing platforms would suffice
to provide ample opportunities for visitors and these could, moreover, be
stations for educational labeling, diagrams, and art historical information.
Before such plans can be made, however, there are immediate
concerns for the site. Invasive plants have rooted in many places and the
tesserae of the mosaics are loosening in many places. The luster is already
off of these tesserae through centuries of weathering, but the actual
physical loss of more of them would be a great detriment to art history. A
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thorough and careful cleaning of the site and resetting of the mosaic
fragments, along with a tarp and earthen seasonal covering for the winter
months might help slow down the damage.
Endnotes
1
The Greek place names are given after the Turkish names. A few Greek
Cypriots remain in this area, having stayed on after the Turkish intervention
of 1974 which partitioned the island of Cyprus into two parts: a Turkish
northern part and a Greek southern part.
2
A catechumena is the section of the church reserved for the catechumen,
people who are considering becoming Christians but who as yet are
unbaptized. They could hear the liturgies and sermons but did not fully
participate with the congregation in the main body (the nave) of the church.
A survey of the basilica in early Christian architecture is the classic text by A.
Orlandos, Paleochristian Basilicas, 3 vols. (Athens, 1952). [Greek title: Hē
xylostegos palaiochris anikē basilikē tēs Mesogeiakēs lekanēs].
3
The site was first excavated by A. Papageorghiou with several reports
published in the Annual Report of the Director of the Department of
Antiquities, Cyprus, between 1963 and 1973. For these and other references
see p. 89 in Demetrios Michaelides, “Mosaic Pavements from Early Christian
Cult Buildings in Cyprus,” in Mosaic Floors in Cyprus eds. W. A. Daszewski
and D. Michaelides, (Ravenna: Mario Lapucci, 1988): pp. 80-153
4
For Kourion, see A. H. S. Megaw et. al., Kourion: Excavations in the
Episcopal Precinct, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection,
(Harvard University Press, 2007). For Paphos, see A. H. S. Megaw,
“Reflections on Byzantine Paphos,” in Kathegetria: Essays Presented to
Joan Hussey on her 80th Birthday, ed. J. Chrysostomides (Athens, 1975): pp.
135-150. For Soli, see J. des Gagniers, “Excavations at Soloi,” in The
Archaeology of Cyprus, ed. N. Robertson (New Jersey, 1975): pp. 211-232;
and Tran Tam Tinh, “La Basilique,” in Soloi, Dix Campagnes des Fouilles
(1964-1974), (Recherches archaeologique de l’Universite Laval, 1985). For
Salamis, see G. E. Jeffrey, “The Basilica of Constantia,” The Antiquaries
Journal 8 (1928): 48-56; and C. Delvoye, “La place des grandes basiliques de
Salamine de Chypre dans l’architecture paleochretienne”, in Salamine de
Chrypre. Histoire et Archeologie. Colloques Internationaux du Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique no. 578, Paris, 1980, pp. 313-327. For
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the Basilica of Campanopetra see G. Roux, Salamine de Chypre XV: La
Basilique de la Campanopetra, (Paris, 1998).
5
For Agios Philos, see A.H.S. Megaw and J. du Plat Taylor,
“Excavations at Agios Philon,” in Reports of the Department of Antiquities of
Cyprus, (Nicosia, 1981). For the Panagia Kanakaria see A.H.S. Megaw and
E.J.W. Hawkins, The Church of the Panagia Kanakaria at Lythrankomi in
Cyprus, (Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies,
1977).
6
The destruction and later reconstruction of these basilicas is dealt with in
A. H. S. Megaw, “Three Vaulted Basilicas in Cyprus,” Journal of Hellenic
Studies 66 (1946): 48-56. See some counter proposals to Megaw in S. Curcic,
“Byzantine Architecture on Cyprus: An Introduction to the Problem of the
Genesis of a Regional Style,” in Medieval Cyprus: Studies in Art,
Architecture, and History in Memory of Doula Mouriki, eds. Nancy Patterson
Sevcenko and Christopher Moss (Princeton, 1999): pp. 71-80.
7
For a detailed discussion of screens and screening in later Byzantine
churches see Sharon Gerstel, “An Alternative View of the Late Byzantine
Sanctuary Screen,” in Thresholds of the Sacred, ed. Sharon Gerstel
(Dumbarton Oaks and Harvard University Press, 2006): pp.135-157.
8
See A. Papageorghiou, “Foreign Influences on the Early Christian
Architecture of Cyprus,” in Acts of the International Archaeological
Symposium ‘Cyprus Between Occident and Orient’, p. 493; A.H.S. Megaw
believed that, given the small size of the church, an elevated ambo was
unnecessary and that the solea functioned essentially as an ambo as well,
providing merely a segregated central space in the nave for the priest. A.H.S.
Megaw “Byzantine Architecture on Cyprus: Metropolitan or Provincial?”
Dumbarton Oaks Papers 28 (1974): 67.
9
For a discussion of the ways that the spaces of early Byzantine churches
were divided see Urs Peschlow, “Dividing Interior Space in Early Byzantine
Churches: The Barriers between the Nave and Aisles,” in Thresholds of the
Sacred, ed. Sharon Gerstel (Dumbarton Oaks & Harvard University Press,
2006): pp. 53-71.
10
The style of the mosaics is similar to the mosaics of the Basilica of
Chrysopolitissa in Paphos, Cyprus. See Michaelides, pp. 100-103. For
similarities in Antioch mosaics see Antioch Mosaics, ed. Fatih Cimok,
(Istanbul, 2000); specifically the geometric mosaics from the ‘House of the
Evil Eye’ on pp. 38-39, the geometric borders from houses in Antakya on pp.
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42 and 46-47, as well as the geometric border from the ‘House of the Buffet
Supper’ in Antakya on p. 119.
11
Michaelides notes that: “This motif which was used widely in the pagan
world, became, during the Christian period, a symbol of pilgrimage, not only
in this world but also from this world to the next.” He notes other examples
of sandals in mosaic in the Churches of Mt. Zion and Via Dolorosa in
Jerusalem and the basilica in Beersheba. Michaelides p. 100-102. The
Beersheba sandals are illustrated in M. Avi-Yonah, “Mosaic Pavements in
Palestine,” Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities of Palestine vol. 3, no.
2, plate XIV, fig. 1.
12
See K. M. D. Dunbabin, The Mosaics of Roman North Africa, (Oxford,
1978), 164.
13
A similar font can be found in the Medieval Museum in Limissol and
another more finely carved example in marble in the old apse at St. Barnabas
church near Famagusta.
14
R. M. Jensen, “Baptismal Rites and Architecture,” chapter 5 in A
People’s History of Christianity: Late Latin Christianity, vol. 2,
(Minneapolis, 2005), pp. 123-124.
15
Jensen, “Baptismal Rites and Architecture,” 124-128.
16
Accounts of the theory, rites, and symbolism of baptism can be found
in the writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386 A.D.). An excellent overview
is given in the “Baptism” entry in vol. 1 of The New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Samuel Macauley Jackson (Ed.)
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1960), pp. 435-454. The
useful entry for “Baptistery” is found on pp. 454-455. See also Jensen,
“Baptismal Rites and Architecture,” 117-144.
17
See Megaw, Kourion, p. 109-100. See also Kenneth Conant’s
discussion of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and its baptistery in K. J.
Conant, “The Original Buildings at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem,”
Speculum 31, n. 1 (1956) 1-48.
18
Jensen, “Baptismal Rites and Architecture,” 130-135.
19
Ibid., 139.
20
These funerary elements are discussed at length in an article by N.
Temple, “Baptism and Sacrifice: Cosmogony as Private Ontology,” arq
[Architectural Research Quarterly] vol. 8, no. 1 (2005) 47-60.
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21
A recent exception to the isolation was made in 2007 when the
historical architecture of the medieval city of Famagusta was placed on the
World Monument Fund’s 100 Most Endangered Sites listing.
18